POCATELLO, Idaho, May 8 – Kadi Henderson and Lyndsey Healey each drove in two runs to help Southern Utah (21-28) take down Sacramento State (24-20) by a score of 5-2 in the opening round of the Big Sky Conference Tournament on Thursday. The victory puts the Thunderbirds into the winners’ bracket where they will meet up with top-seeded Idaho State (33-18) on Friday at 10:00 a.m.

SUU took the game’s first lead with back-to-back home runs in the top of the third. Henderson put the T-Birds on the board with a deep shot to right with that brought in Kelli Hales and Madison Resley followed with a solo shot to make it a 3-0 advantage.

The Hornets battled back with a sacrifice fly from Sasha Marguiles and Nicole Clark hit an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth to make it a one-run game.

Southern Utah put a couple of runners on in the top of the seventh after Kylee Wolf drew a walk and Resley singled through the left side. Healey then drove a double to center field to bring in two insurance runs to make it a 5-2 margin.

Katie Greenberg closed out the game with 2.2 scoreless frames after relieving starter Ariel Hart (9-9) who allowed just two earned runs and struck out four batters over 4.1 innings to earn the win. SUU put up three runs against Big Sky Pitcher of the Year Caitlin Brooks (9-6) and added two more off reliever Taylor Stroud.

Resley, Healey and Hales each recorded two hits for the T-Birds while Wolf drew three walks.

The winner of tomorrow’s matchup between SUU and ISU will earn a trip to the championship round while the loser plays a second game at 4:00 p.m. Tournament coverage is available online at www.suutbirds.com and www.bigskyconf.com.